Ex-TSA worker to plead guilty to child porn charges

By JAMES A. KIMBLEUnion Leader Correspondent

BRENTWOOD — A former Manchester man who worked as a security officer for the Transportation Security Administration is expected admit to possessing child pornography, instead of going to trial for the crime.

Miguel Quinones, 39, of Litchfield intends to plead guilty to four counts of possession of child sexual abuse images, leaving a judge to decide how much time he will spend behind bars, according to an agreement filed by his lawyer.

Quinones could face up to 2 to 4 years in state prison. He is scheduled to change his plea and be sentenced on June 2 in Rockingham County Superior Court.

Defense lawyer Roger Chadwick is expected to argue that his client should serve a 12-month county jail term and receive treatment outside of jail.

The case against Quinones broke open Jan. 2, 2013, when he came under the scrutiny of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Londonderry police got a search warrant for Quinones’ computer hardware, and seized a laptop and three USB drives that he kept in his work locker at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, prosecutors said.

About 1,000 images of child pornography were found on the computer hardware by investigators, court documents say. A grand jury had indicted Quinones on 20 counts related to possessing the illegal images, but county prosecutors agreed to drop some of those charges as the case progressed through court.

Quinones was expected to go on trial in late April, but he decided to enter a plea deal with county prosecutors to settle the case.

Had a jury convicted Quinones, he could have faced up to 7 ½ to 15 years in state prison, and a $4,000 fine on each of the charges.

Quinones no longer works for the TSA. He has remained free on bail since his indictment in September.